I had the absolute pleasure of planning NFL Star, Sean Clifford’s wedding to his beautiful bride Juliana this past summer in Philadelphia. It was an absolutely gorgeous June day and the energy of this wedding was incredible. Check out some of the gorgeous photos from this wedding that was featured in People Magazine!
Philadelphia has no shortage of incredible wedding locations. Whether you are looking for that city vibe with chic elements, or you want something more farm to table and laid back, the city offers all of that and everything in between. Not to mention, there are great places for your rehearsal dinner, engagement photos, and of course, your hotel blocks.
I have planned a lot of weddings in Philadelphia and I know the city pretty well making it easy for me to work with my couples. With Sean and Juliana, while they had major ties to this area, they were living in Green Bay for the entire planning process. Thankfully, having worked with NFL players before (little humble brag for me there) I know that their schedules are crazy and extensive and complete communication with the bride is essential.
This way, while Sean was out there playing for the Green Bay Packers, Juliana would have all the information she needed from me to keep her soon to be husband in the loop.
Related: People Magazine Feature: Sean Clifford Marries Juliana Alessandroni
The day started out at Loews Hotel with the girls getting ready in the hospitality suite, and Sean getting ready with his guys on a different floor at the hotel. Plenty of champagne was available while the girls got their hair and makeup done and the room was filled with smiles all morning.
Upon arrival, we had all of Juliana and Sean’s details laid out for the photo and video team to capture. This included their romantic invitation suite and of course, plenty of flowers and accessories.
Wedding Planner Tip: Have all of your special details put together for your photographer upon their arrival so everything runs smoothly and you’re not searching for items last minute.
Juliana’s stunning dress hung in the hospitality suite for pictures and how incredible is that train detail? Keeping it classic and chic, Juliana paired Jimmy Choo’s with the gown and the look was flawless.
One of the great details about the hospitality suite offered at Loews is how much room and light is available in the space. Juliana had a good number of bridesmaids…so plus photo, video, hair and makeup, wedding planning team, moms, and anyone else who stopped by…the room always had plenty of people there. But this room is super spacious allowing everyone to relax and not feel cramped.
Juliana has such a special bond with her mom and her sister…one of my favorite parts of being a wedding planner is getting to see this intense love and genuine happiness that family members have for one another. As an only child, I always wished I had a sibling to go through major milestones with so getting to be a part of seeing what that love looks like is something I will never take for granted.
Speaking of incredible family members…Juliana surprised her dad with a custom made suit jacket that featured a literal photo album of them together. I was so excited getting to see the father-daughter first look and yes, everyone in the room cried including yours truly.
As Juliana and all of the ladies finished getting ready and bringing their bags back to their hotel rooms, our team went ahead and checked in on the groom.
Sean, in his custom made suit, went with his groomsmen up to the 33rd floor of Loews, which is a spectacular place to take plenty of pre-ceremony photos. Thankfully, the weather was picture perfect, but this spot is a great substitute for the outdoors if the weather gets in your way.
Once everyone was ready and all of the photos were finished at the hotel, our groom headed off to the first look location while we escorted our bride. As usual, the streets of Philadelphia were super friendly and filled with onlookers wishing them a wonderful wedding day.
The first look was pure magic and we were prepared with tissues for both Sean and Juliana. Philadelphia offers incredible locations right in Center City for not just your first look, but for your portraits as well.
After first look photos and portraits, it was time to pile our bride and groom, their parents, and the whole wedding party into the trolleys at the hotel. It was about a ten minute drive to the church and the energy was on high the entire time with everyone so excited to get to the ceremony.
Juliana’s bridal bouquet was wrapped in sentiment with their monogram and wedding date on full display. I personally adore these types of details because they are the smaller ones that maybe no one else really notices but the couple.
Wedding Planner Tip: If you want your florist to incorporate anything on your bouquet, make sure to get them what they need BEFORE the wedding day!
The walk down the aisle was an emotional one! Just before sending down Juliana and her father, I fixed her veil and told her dad to take a deep breath. This moment is always one of my favorites probably because I’m a sucker for Father of the Bride.
And when those church doors closed…
…Juliana’s mom looked on at her daughter and the sweetest moment was captured on camera.
After a beautiful service at St. Rita’s (which was one of THE easiest churches to work with by the way), Sean and Juliana were officially husband and wife!
With a short break between the end of ceremony and cocktail hour, the bride, groom, and the entire wedding party hopped back onto the trollies to take a few more pictures all together. Half of my team stayed with the group while the rest of us headed over to the wedding venue to check in on set-up and get to work for the wedding reception.
Juliana selected a gorgeous light blue for all of her bridesmaids and it was honestly the perfect color for this summer wedding.
The simplicity of the elegant white roses tied together was the perfect compliment to the elegant dresses the bridesmaids wore.
After photos were done, everyone hopped back onto the trollies and headed over to Ballroom at the Ben to chill out in the wedding suite for a bit before getting the party started. Guests grabbed the shuttles located at the hotel to get to the reception safely and without any worry.
I headed over to the venue with some of my team members while the rest stayed with the couple and their party for photos. The florals were the perfect look for this special venue!
Of course, anytime there is a staircase with a banister that will be on full display, I recommend adding flowers. This particular staircase was a major focal point and was where the wedding party and the bride and groom entered into the reception. Plus, with the flowers up all night, it was a great spot in the ballroom for guests to grab their photo opportunities!
As a very proud Penn State alumni, I am always extra excited when my couple also has ties to Penn State. Sean played football for The Nittany Lions and that’s where he met Juliana…and with a guest list packed with PSU alum and fans, this ice sculpture was a must!
One of the bigger wedding trends that has emerged this year is the custom seating chart and, I have to say, I love these so much! To be honest, there are plenty of wedding trends I just cannot get on board with but I would be so thrilled if every couple did this because it’s easy for guests to read, it’s gorgeous, and no one is losing their escort cards.
After cocktail hour, the reception kicked off with entrances from the wedding party and ended with our couple getting out onto the dance floor with an amazing sparkler background.
After an amazing first dance as husband and wife, Juliana and Sean welcomed their guests to the dance floor and there was no time wasted because everyone was totally there to have a great time.
In between toasts and formalities, the dance floor was completely packed and the energy was off the charts the whole night! I really love planning weddings where the guests are clearly there to support the couple and have a great time and this was one of those weddings for sure!
And while normally I’m not a fan of guests grabbing the microphone, the one and only KJ Hamler had the place hyped up for that last hour of the reception.
Fun fact…the night before at the rehearsal dinner there was discussion about this happening but I never could have predicted how incredible this would make the last moments of the reception.
Once the cake had been cut, the formalities had finished, and the reception came to an end, our bride and groom welcomed their guests to the after party on site. If you were invited to this wedding, you absolutely had the best time ever.
I had the best time ever planning with Juliana and Sean and I am thrilled with how spectacular the day went. It was amazing to see all of that positive energy from the wedding party to the wedding guests and how everyone was there to celebrate this truly special love these two have.
Wishing them all the best and so thankful they chose me to plan their special day!
